Honda Jazz 1.2S stalls when idling intermittently.

[guest4178]

Hi,
I own a Honda jazz 1.2S 2005 for 5 years. About 6 months ago, I started noticing the car stalls intermittently when idling at junctions or traffic lights. At the beginning the issue seemed to happen once a month so I did not bother, but it is getting more frequent and maybe is now occurring once every 3 days. Last time it happened I was driving home and had to de-accelerate due to a traffic light and noticed the car died while it was losing speed to stop. I had to switch it back on and accelerate the gas to about 4000 rpms to get it working again. If I didn't accelerate, it would stall again. No fault lights are shown on the dashboard whenever it happens.
I took it to a good local garage (not Honda specialist) last week, but the mechanic was unable to replicate the issue or find it in the 10 minutes he spent with the car. He didn't charge me anything and advised me to keep driving and take it back to him when the issue becomes more frequent so he can replicate and see it happening. Any advice here - does that sound reasonable?

I live in Slough/Berkshire and ideally would like an independent specialist to investigate. Does anyone know of any Honda independent specialist's they can recommend?

I found an independent Honda specialist called "Phillips Motor Services" 30 miles away, does anyone know if they are any good?

Many thanks

[JazzyB]

Sounds like the egr valve, worth checking that out

Search this forum for egr as others have had this problem

[guest4178]

Thanks, just called the Honda specialist and after a quick conversation over the phone he suspects could be the throttle body or the egr valve. He should see my car later this week. 

[guest4178]

The mechanic checked the car and told me he could not find the issue and the car was not reporting any fault code, but suspected it could be related to the egr valve... I then asked him to clean the egr valve and he agreed to do that. He completed the work in 30 minutes and said it was quite blocked.  I honestly cannot feel any difference when driving the car, but it has not stalled lately which is good. Will update the thread once I there is any conclusion.

[guest4007]

hi

i know you had this problem with your jazz a long time ago but did you ever find out what the problem was as i'm having the same problem now. any help would be appreciated

thanks

[guest4078]

Well, to start with if I were you I would chuck some redex in with a fill up of posh petrol and see what happens. Then check plugs, leads etc. Air filter, clogged or damp. Battery shot? Vacuum pipe leaks?
After that throttle body,good clean up with carb cleaner. EGR is an easy clean up, but I don't think it would cause an idling problem, because it cuts in at higher revs than idle.
After all that you really need to put a code reader on as diagnosis can be a pita.

[guest4007]

thanks interlock, it could be battery related as sometimes my head unit resets itself as if the battery has been disconnected. after revving the engine to about 4000rpm it goes back to normal. it doesn't happen all the time but its happened a few times.

[guest4078]

Well, having looked at your latest pictures, I think it is just too shiny! The airflow just shoots over the silver paint and aero mods! I think a bit of dirt helps with good running. 
Alternatively, batteries do do funny things to a car when they are at the end of their life. So, good call.

[guest4007]

lol, will get a new battery and see what happens, could probably do with new plugs too actually.

[culzean]

Well, to start with if I were you I would chuck some redex in with a fill up of posh petrol and see what happens. Then check plugs, leads etc. Air filter, clogged or damp. Battery shot? Vacuum pipe leaks?
After that throttle body,good clean up with carb cleaner. EGR is an easy clean up, but I don't think it would cause an idling problem, because it cuts in at higher revs than idle.
After all that you really need to put a code reader on as diagnosis can be a pita.

Trouble is that the EGR is supposed to seal off the passageway between exhaust and inlet until the engine hits high revs,  if it is stuck open even a little bit it is like having an air leak in the inlet manifold, and  this can be disastrous for performance at low revs. If the EGR never opens it would not really be noticeable, as it is only there to let exhaust gas recirculate into inlet manifold at high revs to 'cool' combustion and reduce NOx emissions.